Prey
by kinigget
Summary: In which the Alley goes rather differently


So I went and read Worm a while back

I liked it

I liked it a _lot_

and then I started getting _ideas_

this is is one of those ideas

now, I intended to have this done back at the end of January, which clearly did not happen for a variety of reasons

this is actually the second draft, and while I'm more than halfway through the third, which I like a lot better, I'm getting tired of sitting on this, so up it goes, complete or otherwise

* * *

So this was it then.

Emma Barnes' life was over, whether she survived the next few minutes or not.

The ABB was infamous for it's sex trade and "farms" and the part-time model had no illusions about what would happen to her there.

And then, just as she was about to resign herself to her fate, she heard a voice.

A familiar voice

"Don't touch her!"

Dammit, why was Taylor here? Okay, so maybe she did end that call a little abruptly, but was that any reason to come looking for trouble? Taylor was _far_ too kind a person to be in a place like this.

The ABB thugs seemed to have the same opinion of the girl standing inn the mouth of the alley.

"This doesn't concern you, leave and you won't get hurt"

Taylor sighed and walked forward, "I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this"

Wait, what? What was she talking about? This didn't sound like the girl Emma had known for as long as she could remember.

"Emma, do you trust me?"

"Of course, but...why? What are you talking about?"

"Good", Taylor said, turning and allowing Emma to see her face.

And then Emma's heart stopped, because that meant she could see Taylor's eyes.

Taylor's black and red eyes

"because this isn't going to be pretty"

And then all Emma could was watch in mute horror as Taylor's lower back exploded into glistening red tentacles.

It was around this point that the thugs finally seemed to recognize the danger they were in and started running.

None of them made it very far.

Seemingly satisfied with her handiwork, Taylor retracted her kagune and suppressed her kakugan.

Looking over to her friend, she finally seemed to notice Emma's shock and horror.

"Shit, are you okay!?" She stopped at Emma's blank look and cringed "Right, sorry, dumb question." Okay, we need to get out of here, I can't be sure no-one has notified the CCG"

Emma just shrank back, fear and distrust writ plainly on her face.

Taylor sighed "dammit, I was afraid of this" she settled down onto the pavement, "Look, we've been friends almost our entire lives right?" Emma nodded shakily, "Right, so if I was planning to eat you, don't you think I'd have done it already?". Emma froze and a contemplative look came over her. Finally, she spoke, "But, why?"

"Why what, reveal that I'm a ghoul?"

Another shaky nod

Taylor looked sheepish, "well, in all honesty I wasn't really planning on it, but, well, they'd already hurt you and were planning on doing worse. I couldn't let that happen." Taylor stood up and extended her hand, "Now, I'll answer your questions, but first we need to leave. I don't want to be here when the doves show up"

Emma still looked hesitant, but took Taylor's hand and allowed the taller girl to help her up.

* * *

Some twenty minutes later the girls were sitting at a table in the back corner of one of the many coffee shops dotting the boardwalk.

"Alright, let's start from the top, how much do you know about ghouls?"

"w-well, just the basics, they have to eat human flesh, can't be hurt by normal weapons, can be identified by the kakugan and kagune, and are known to be great actors"

Taylor nodded "all true enough, though that last one is more of a survival skill than anything else. For us, exposure means death, so if we want to have any kind of 'normal' life we have to be _very_ good at acting human"

"That's...Interesting and all, but why tell me all this?"

Taylor grinned "is it wrong for me to want to confide in my best friend?"

Emma gave her a look, and see relented

"Well, to tell the truth, I figure the more you know the safer you'll be. I dragged you into this world, so that makes you my responsibility, so that makes it my job to educate you"

"I suppose that makes sense, but...aren't you worried I'll go to the CCG or something? It is my civic duty to report suspected ghouls after all"

"I'll admit that I'm putting my life and my dad's life in your hands, but you see, we've been friends for as long as I can remember. Hell, at this point I consider you more as a sister than anything else, even _with_ the fact that we aren't the same species. I'd like to think that counts for something"

"Well... You're not wrong. I'm so scared I can barely think straight, but even so, I just can't believe that you'd ever try to hurt me"

"Yeah, well, contrary to what the CCG would have you believe, we're not all bloodthirsty monsters only capable of seeing humans as food, I even know a few ghouls who live entirely off of suicide victims and don't hunt at all. Anyway, I'll finish going over the basics, and then I'll answer any questions you have. Sound good?"

Emma indicated her assent.

"Right, well the biggest thing they don't teach you is the different RC types. For instance, me and dad are what's called 'Rinkaku' ghouls, which means our kagune looks like tentacles and we regenerate faster than any other RC type, which comes in very handy I might add. Shadow Stalker back there is an 'Ukaku', kagune looks like wings, high agility but low stamina, some Ukaku Gould can launch shards of their kagune to act as a long-range attack. Next is 'kKoukaku', the most durable of the RC types, though that does mean they're really slow. Their kagune tend to look like shells of some kind. And finally there's 'Ukaku', the all-rounders of the ghoul world with no particular strengths or weaknesses, their kagune always take the form of a tail"

And so the lesson continued.

* * *

"Alright, that should be everything you need to know. Now, any questions?"

"Well, you said your are family are rinkaku ghouls that can regenerate just about anything, but...You told me your mom died in a car crash?"

Taylor grimaced "yeah, well you can probably guess by now that that was a lie, but, see, I couldn't exactly tell you that she was killed by the CCG could I? As much as I trust you, my survival relies on stealth. If things had gone my way, you'd never have found out I wasn't human"

Emma looked aghast, "I'm so sorry"

Taylor saved her off, "don't be, you're not the one who reported her. And besides, in our world you get used to tragedy young"

Emma looked thoughtful for a moment, "you know, I always did admire how strong you were, how it seemed like nothing could break you, I guess now I know why that is"

"Hey now, don't sell yourself short, you're a model after all, and I've always felt like it would be impossible for you to ever not be pretty"

Emma blushed, and then something caught in her brain, "wait! If the CCG caught your mom, then weren't you in danger? Aren't you still?"

Taylor laughed a bit "you would think so wouldn't you? But my parents were both in highly public jobs, dad still is. So, they came up with the idea to create whole new identities for their 'human' lives. That way, even if one of them was caught, it wouldn't lead the CCG back to the rest of us. It's not a perfect solution, but fortunately the CCG branch here in Brockton Bay is a bit incompetent"

"I see, and I have to ask: what do we taste like? Humans, that is"

Taylor sat back and thought for a minute "that's not an easy question to answer, it's the only thing I can eat that doesn't taste utterly disgusting, so I can't really compare it to human food for you. All I can really say is that it tastes good, the best thing I will ever taste. I must say I'm jealous of you, being able to eat so many things is a luxury you will never really understand. You really have no idea how good you have it"

Emma looked down, "sorry"

"What are you apologizing for? It isn't your fault. How could you have known? It's not like you could ever have asked a ghoul about it before"

"I suppose you're right"

"Of course I'm right" Taylor glanced at the clock and frowned "crap, I need to stay heading home. Alright, now it should go without saying that this stays between us. I can't see the rest of your family being this understanding, especially given how devoted to protecting you your dad is, and my dad would probably tell me that I should either kill you or never see you again"

Emma blanched, "I'd like to avoid that, yes. And you're probably right about my family too. It's a promise then. I'll see you soon I hope?"

"Count on it"

And with that, two girls left the coffee shop and went their separate ways, a friendship tested, but intact, and all the stronger for the shared secret.

What lies in their future? Only time will tell.

* * *

so yeah, there's several things I simply did not address because I couldn't come up with good answers to the questions raised, but in my defense, I'm still fairly new at this and much better at having the ideas than getting them written down

I may or may not revisit this crossover, though I'm leaning towards doing it if and when I ever come up with an actual plot. I kinda promised myself to never simply retread the stations of canon ever again, which is all well and good, but then I have to actually have an original idea, which is not the easiest thing for me to do.

Anyway, point is that this is backstory at best, and unlikely to be an actual part of any actual crossover story that comes of this.

and, as always, I _deeply_ appreciate any feedback you can give me


End file.
